The relationship between Benedick and Beatrice in the Play and the Film of Much Ado About Nothing - Essay Example

?Discuss the portrayal of the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice in the Play and the Film of Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare’s early comedy Much Ado About Nothing has a central plot line with concerns the fate of the lovely Hero, daughter of Leonato and her admirer Claudio. There are various twists which thwart the path of this love, and it provides the superficial pretext for various sub-plots which in the end usurp the audience’s attention. Two other characters stand out as important elements in the dramatic development of the play. Beatrice is a fiery, outspoken cousin of Hero, who is intended no doubt to provide a contrast to Hero’s gentle and quiet character. Benedick is a witty and disrespectful courtier who so far has not consented to be romantically tied to any woman. Claudio and Hero are the unwitting victims of deception, showing one potential reaction to this turn of fate, while Benedick and Beatrice are examples of an entirely different, and more feisty response. As the title of the play suggests, it all comes right in the end, but the main point of the play is to explore the different paths that can be followed in leading two individuals to the traditional “happy ending” scenario of the Elizabethan comedy genre. Love wins out in the end, despite the posturing of the human characters in the play, and this is the main message that both film and play project. Benedick and Beatrice are like male and female versions of the same character type. They predictably get into arguments with each other, partly to amuse their friends, but partly also because they have so much in common with each other, and make such equal and entertaining sparring partners. While Hero and Claudio play the role of the star crossed lovers, whose path to true love is interrupted by villainous subterfuge, Benedick and Beatrice represent a lively contrast, as two arch enemies who are brought together by the same villainous plotting. This criss-crossing plot device is an example of Shakespeare’s complex commentary on the shifting roles of the sexes in Elizabethan England. One of the features of Branagh’s film that has attracted much critical attention is the fact that there is a mixture of British and American actors in the film, with a consequent erratic mix of accents. This was no doubt a consequence of UK/US collaboration on the production side, but also a reflection of marketing aspirations which were truly global. The kind of Shakespeare being produced here is deliberately international, with an ironic kind of inter-textuality that appeals to a post-modern audience. The casting of comic superstar Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, for example, adds modern layers of connotation to the original meanings intended by Shakespeare himself. Seen in this light, the relationship between Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) appears as a commentary on relationship issues faced by modern globetrotting professionals. Certainly Emma Thompson’s Beatrice is reminiscent of the articulate, at times even stridently feminist, modern woman who will not succumb to traditional notions of female subordination in marriage. Don Pedro’s comment to Beatrice “In faith, lady, you have a merry heart” (Act 2, Scene 1, line 293) underlines the potential that she has to lighten every scene and distract attention from her inner loneliness to her outer display of wit. There is more to Beatrice than meets the eye, and only in the presence of Benedick does she truly shine. This chemistry between the two characters is brought out to perfection in Branagh’s film, as the two often stand back to back, facing away from each other and firing off remarks into the surrounding crowd of onlookers. They studiously avoid intimate contact at first, but everyone knows that they are a fine match for each other, romantically as well as intellectually. The underlying tension between the two sets up a slow burning suspense that carries on throughout the play and film until it reaches its fulfilment in the closing scene. The modern tenor of Branagh’s film adaptation, and of course its cinema medium, has the advantage of bringing Shakespeare to a wider audience than traditional theatre productions, but at the same time there are some signs that his version changes the original in the process. Combs and Durgnat detect a faster pace and more energetic delivery that detracts from some of the deeper social comment that was in Shakespeare’s original, noting that the film “echoes a very contemporary interest in social negotiations… The duel of wit between Beatrice (Emma Thompson), the scathing feminist, and Benedick (Branagh), the irresponsible dandy, is modern in spirit, but what to do about the very formal aspects of the era: authority, deference, its stiff touchiness and honor?” (Combs and Durgent, 2001). What the knowledgeable critics find wanting, is the authenticity in the social setting for the relationship which develops between Benedick and Beatrice. Some of Beatrice’s statements which would have seemed radical and outrageous in Shakespeare’s time, appear rather tired and petulant in the post-feminist 1990s. An example of this is the put-down statement in the very first scene “I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Benedick. Nobody marks you” (Act I, Scene 1, lines 110-111). In the film Branagh, as Benedick, is not the least perturbed by such remarks, and rises to the bait escalating the insults with more wit of his own. Beatrice is tough, and has a sharp tongue, especially when it comes to repartee with Benedick, but she is not depicted in the play as an unlikeable character. Emma Thompson’s acting, and her styling with long hair and open bodice, is very feminine, and her comments delivered in an archly knowing way, as if to hint at a powerful sexuality which underpins her barbed tone. Branagh, with a rather arrogant masculine panache, keeps up with the banter step by step, so that the relationship between the two becomes a perpetual battle of the sexes, each looking to gain the upper hand, but at the same time, enjoying the battle and maintaining a grudging respect for each other. Beatrice shows her vulnerable side when she is told that Benedick is in love with her, and she immediately renounces her combative stance, saying “Contempt, farewell; and maiden pride, adieu. No glory lives behind the back of such” (Act 3, Scene 1, lines 109-110). Conversely, Benedick, who has previously been intent on proving how little interested he is in Beatrice, resolves to outdo her in his protestations of love. Whatever these two characters do, it is bound to be extreme and at the same time entertaining. They epitomize the twentieth century battle of the sexes, but in an ironic and humorous way. This is more like an American sit-com dialogue of the 1990s than an a kitchen sink realist drama of the 1960s. The battle for female equality has long been won, and the point of the display is to celebrate the ability of man and woman to enjoy a pitched battle of equal spirits. The different context of film and stage is very marked in this film, and this is not just because of the different audience expectations. Branagh’s direction retains archaic costumes and much of the original language of the play, but what makes his film so visually arresting is the setting of magnificent Italian countryside. The gardens and Italian architecture add something majestic and classical to the play, which contrasts with the rather rustic depiction of the young people lounging in the grass, eating fruits and watching the banter between Beatrice and her relatives. This gives the play a curious mix of modern wit and pastoral setting, as if it were some parallel universe where young hippies sport on the grass in a society free from industrialisation and modern technology. The audience has its attention drawn to the human relationships, picking up anachronistic echoes from the previous work that each renowned actor has done. It is a curious mixture, that in the end makes Benedick and Beatrice appear as a timeless couple, with city slicker language in a traditional rural setting. Above all the characters appear relaxed and bronzed in the bright Italian sunshine. Nothing could be further from the Shakespearean city stages, bringing a singularly southern European, or indeed American, flavour to the story. All in all Branagh’s film takes liberties with the characterisation, especially of minor characters, mixing nationalities to create a bewildering globalised cast that cannot be fixed in any one time or place. He stays true to the basic tension between Beatrice and Benedick, however, and this is what makes his film so entertaining and ultimately popular with modern audiences. He has captured the eternal dance between man and woman, showing both untrammelled by social conventions and free to enjoy a lively debate and in this he faithfully renders one of Shakespeare’s greatest dramatic themes. References Branagh, K. (Dir.) 1993. Much Ado About Nothing. (Film). Starring K. Branagh, Richard Briers, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson et al. London: BBC Films. Coombs, R. and Durgnat, R. 2001. Shakespeare: A Chaos Theory. Film Comment 37 (4), pp. 56 ff. Shakespeare, W. 2005. Much Ado About Nothing. In S. Wells and G. Taylor et al. (Eds), The Oxford Shakespeare, Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 569 - 593 Read More